April an inspiration to others

I love meeting new and inspirational people around horses, those who have challenged themselves to achieve things which have gone above and beyond their own expectations.

April Frogley lives just around the corner from us and although I knew her by sight to say hello to it wasn’t until I injured my knee that I recently got to know her more.

April came to help me with my horses for a few days – she’s only 11 years old and has a lovely black and white (the colour is called piebald in the horse world) cob called Farrah whom she got three years ago.

When she went to look at Farrah the pony was in a poor state. She was crawling with lice and as thin as a rake – but April fell completely in love with her. They started off by clipping off her feathers (that’s the long bits near the horse’s hooves) and also by hogging her mane (clipping it completely off) and treating her. Next they spent time around her to bond and build up trust.

At first April’s little pony wouldn’t want to leave the band of horses she was in – that’s where she felt her confidence was with the other horses but over time April has shown Farrah that she will look after her and now they happily hack out together on their own (with mum on foot beside her).

It’s taken some time for the little pony to trust April. A pony that doesn’t trust humans and hasn’t received the care they deserve can be hard to retrain, but love wins out in the end – plus a lot of time and patience.

They’ve since gone on to take Farrah competing, having great fun together in the saddle. I’m not surprised April has managed to achieve this despite being a young girl.

She told me her pony has taught her never to give up in life and that her horse has been an inspiration to her but what she probably doesn’t realise is that she is an inspiration to others – including her pony. Good luck in all that you both do April!